Tag Archives: researchers

A team of scientists in China has sequenced the genome of Ginkgo biloba, the oldest living tree species. Ginkgo biloba. Image credit: Darkone / CC BY-SA 2.0. Ginkgo biloba is a widely popular tree that is native to China and has been cultivated for well over a millennium. In Asia, …

An international team of researchers led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, has developed a novel technique for gene silencing in human T-lymphocytes (T-cells), a type of immune cells. Left: an illustration of GapmeR design, cellular internalization leading to specific gene silencing. Right: super-resolution microscopy of GapmeR co-localization with SNX5 protein …

Using images from NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, planetary researchers have discovered a broad valley in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mercury. Using colorized topography, Mercury’s ‘great valley’ (dark blue) and Rembrandt impact basin (purple, upper right) are revealed in this high-resolution digital elevation …

Astronauts on long-duration flights experience visual impairments due to volume changes in cerebrospinal fluid, the clear fluid that helps cushion the brain and spinal cord while circulating nutrients and removing waste materials, according to a study led by Noam Alperin, professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at the University of …

Breathalyzers to detect alcohol intoxication have existed for years, as the relationship between blood-alcohol content and alcohol in the breath is well understood. The same principles may soon be applied to diabetes screening. A team of researchers from Oxford University have succeeded in building a device that can flag patients …

Synaptic pruning is a little like sleep. We know both processes are important to healthy brain function, but we don’t know exactly how they happen, nor how to reliably treat problems in the system. Disruptions in the delicate process of synaptic pruning are associated with disorders like schizophrenia and autism, …

Several years ago, so-called “brain training” games from companies like Luminosity were all the rage. The various companies that brought these products to market claimed they could be used to offset the aging process by slowing or even reversing age-related cognitive declines. In 2014, two groups of scientists released two …

Biotechnologists have discovered some horrifying new consequences of lateral gene transfer: a virus that started making the toxin from black widow spider venom, all by itself. This might be the single combination humanity needed least. No matter what the permutation, viruses plus black widows add up to a whole lot …

Like most of us, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology had always wondered why dogs had wet noses. Further, they wondered why they could sense vapors better, allowing them to sniff out bombs, drugs, and even cancer. They tested the second question by 3D printing a dog’s …

It’s Computer Science Education Week, in case you didn’t know, and in honor of this hallowed period Microsoft is publishing the thoughts of a few of its scientists and engineers on what will change in the tech world over the next decade. Seventeen women were asked to chime in — …